JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's combat system has come a long way since the Fist of the North Star-inspired story arc Phantom Blood. The Stand system breathed new life into the franchise, with many Stands featuring unusual abilities that reward creative and resourceful thinking. This is especially true in the Golden Wind story arc, such as the Stand called Moody Blues.
Not all Stands in JoJo's are heavy hitters like Josuke's Crazy Diamond or Giorno's Gold Experience, but they don't need to be. Moody Blues, the Stand of one Leone Abbacchio, can peer back in time to deduce the enemy's prior movements, thus yielding vital clues for determining what he or she will do next. Seeing the future is powerful, but so is viewing the past.
The Time-Bending Power Of Moody Blues
Leone Abbacchio can fight back with the melee prowess of Moody Blues, but that's not his Stand's primary purpose. In battle, Moody Blues can only ward off weak enemy Stands with its fists, though Abbacchio can partly fuse his body with it to form a hybrid of sorts and attack his enemies directly if need be. Moody Blues has no ranged attacks, so if Abbacchio has his back to the well, close confines are best.
This Stand truly shines in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure when it's time for some investigative work. Moody Blues can be positioned in an area that Abbacchio wishes to scan. Once its power is activated, it will "rewind" to any time frame that Abbacchio specifies. The longer back the time frame, the longer it takes to use this ability -- going back a few days requires several minutes of Abbacchio's time, and Moody Blues can't move until the process is complete.
Once Moody Blues reaches the desired time, it can assume the likeness of anyone who was in that area, complete with their voice. While imitating other people, Moody Blues' forehead display is still visible, so Abbacchio can use it as a reference to fast forward, rewind and pause while viewing past events at leisure. In this state, the Stand cannot perform an attack of any kind until Abbacchio ends the time-viewing effect.
Using Moody Blues In The Golden Wind Story Arc
Abbacchio appeared early in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's Golden Wind story arc alongside his fellows in Bruno Bucciarati's squad, but Moody Blues showed up later when Bruno's team was traveling by boat to find the deceased Polpo's treasure. An enemy Stand user named Mario Zucchero attacked, using his ability to superimpose a second, identical boat over Bruno's and deflate his enemies one by one, soon abducting them. Abbacchio didn't want to use Moody Blues in front of Giorno, so he waited until Giorno temporarily sacrificed himself to use Gold Experience and track down Narancia's location.
This was a vital clue, and Abbacchio used Moody Blues to re-create the scene and see what Narancia had been doing there a few minutes earlier. Then Moody Blues went missing while tracking down the enemy based on Narancia's past movements. Once Abbacchio also vanished, he gave a wordless clue to Bruno, who used that to defeat Mario. Thanks to Moody Blues, Abbacchio and Bruno figured out where the enemy was and how their Stand (Soft Machine) worked.
Abbacchio used Moody Blues in battle again soon after, helping Giorno and Fugo fight Illuso and his mirror-based Stand, Man in the Mirror. This time he partially fused with Moody Blues to disrupt Illuso's plans, buying Giorno and Fugo enough time to formulate a counter-strategy and win the day. Abbacchio also used Moody Blues aboard an airplane to recreate the now-unavailable pilot's actions, following what he saw to help guide the plane to its original destination of Sardinia.
Moody Blues was used one last time to track down the mysterious boss of the Passione gang, needing quite some time to re-create a beach scene where the boss, Diavolo, had once appeared. Abbacchio was left vulnerable though, and sure enough, Diavolo, in disguise, used his Stand named King Crimson to fatally wound Abbacchio right there in the open. He has Moody Blues assume the likeness of Diavolo and ram its face into a stone to create an imprint, which Giorno's group uses as a reference to keep hunting down the boss. Seeing the past saved the present and future alike in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
